Goulburn Mulwaree Library will be hosting author Meredith Jaffé in conversation about her latest novel The Dressmakers of Yarrandarrah Prison on June 8.
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Inspired by real events, The Dressmakers of Yarrandarrah Prison is a funny, dark and moving novel. It's a poignantly comic story about a men's prison sewing circle and as unlikely as it sounds, it's based on a real men's sewing organisation, Fine Cell Work, which operates in prisons throughout the British Isles teaching inmates needlework and quilting.
On hearing about the UK men's sewing charity Meredith went down a long and deep rabbit hole of research and discovered many of the Fine Cell Work pieces are of an incredible standard and can be found hanging in the Victoria & Albert Museum, Buckingham Palace, and Elton John's home.
The Dressmakers of Yarrandarrah Prison takes this grain of fact and weaves a story of finding humanity, friendship and redemption in the most unexpected of places, as correctional centre inmate Derek tries to show his estranged daughter how much he loves her by sewing her a wedding dress.
He may not be able to be at the wedding, but surely this will be his opportunity to reconcile. This is a heart-warming, heartbreaking and brilliantly readable story, and Meredith will tell us more about her research and writing process while in conversation with Library staff. Copies of the book will also be available for purchase.
Meredith Jaffé is the author of three novels for adults - The Dressmakers of Yarrandarrah Prison, The Making of Christina, and The Fence. Horse Warrior, the first in a children's series, was published in 2019. She also contributed a short story, Emergency Undies, to the 2019 Funny Bones anthology.
She is the Festival Director of StoryFest, held on the NSW South Coast, and regularly facilitates at other writers' festivals and author events. Previously, she wrote the weekly literary column for the online women's magazine The Hoopla. Her feature articles, reviews, and opinion pieces have also appeared in The Guardian Australia, The Huffington Post, and Mamamia.
The talk will begin at 12:30pm on Tuesday, June 8 at the Goulburn Mulwaree Library. The session is free, but bookings are essential and can be made online at https://www.trybooking.com/BQYIS, in person at the Library, or by calling on (02) 4823 4435.
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